Plenty of anime get released every season, including new seasons of popular shows. 2020 has had more than a few standouts, but which all-new anime series should you be watching in 2021?
An entire list could be made using new seasons of established shows like Demon Slayer, My Hero Academia, or Shield Hero, but here are a few brand-new anime that you should have on your radar.
Horimiya
Best New Anime 2021
Horimiya is a new anime coming in 2021 based on a manga that’s been ongoing since 2011. It’s a romantic comedy that focuses on the lives of high schoolers Kyouko Hori and Izumi Miyamura.
Both students show sides of themselves at school that turn out to be surface-level parts of a whole picture. Hori gives off the impression of being extremely social and well put together, while Miyamura is known to be nerdy and unapproachable.
The two have a chance encounter outside of school, but they both act and look so differently that they almost don’t recognize each other. Through this encounter, they become friends that share parts of their lives that nobody else has seen.
To Your Eternity
Best New Anime 2021
To Your Eternity is a supernatural drama that comes from the author of A Silent Voice. If you’ve had the pleasure of watching that movie or reading that manga, you should have an idea of the emotional rollercoaster you’ll be on with this new anime in 2021.
To Your Eternity follows an immortal, emotionless being that has been placed on Earth with no objective. It’s able to take the form of anything in its surroundings.
Initially, it takes the form of a sphere, then a rock, then eventually, a wolf. As a wolf, it meets a lone boy stuck in a life or death situation. From there, the being begins a journey full of sadness, mystery, and unpredictable new experiences as it searches for its purpose.
Odd Taxi
Best New Anime 2021
Odd Taxi is a mystery that follows a cab-driving walrus named Hiroshi Odokawa as he meets a number of unique characters that pull him out of his ordinary life through engaging, comedic, and thoughtful conversations.
The mystery elements come in when the police begin to search for a missing girl, and the leads in the case bring them to Odokawa. As the case progresses, several of Odokawa’s previous passengers become more relevant to the plot than the show would initially have you believe.
Odd Taxi is a wild ride that should be on everyone’s radar as one of the best new anime of 2021.
Vivy: Fluorite Eye’s Song
Best New Anime 2021
Vivy: Fluorite Eye’s Song is a sci-fi thriller that deals with dangerous AIs that threaten to wipe out mankind. How do humans aim to prevent this outcome? Time travel, of course.
A scientist uses an AI from the future to go back 100 years and enlist the aid of the very first autonomous AI, Vivy. Her regular job is to sing songs in an amusement park day after day, but this messenger from the future changes up her daily routine quite a bit.
Vivy now has 100 years to prevent the catastrophe that occurs and save mankind in a world that has already fully integrated AI into its societies. This is one of the best anime to debut this spring, so check it out if the premise interests you.
Tokyo Revengers
Best New Anime 2021
Tokyo Revengers is just a bit more grounded than Vivy: Fluorite Eye’s Song. It’s a drama involving more time travel and some gangs. Takemichi Hanagaki is already at a low point in his life, then all of a sudden, his ex-girlfriend, Hinata Tachibana, is murdered by the Tokyo Manji Gang.
After going through a life-threatening situation himself, Takemichi finds himself thrust back in time 12 years – back to when he was dating Hinata.
From then on, he goes through hardships and struggles as he attempts to become a high-ranking member of the gang himself as a way to prevent the murder from ever taking place.
Komi Can’t Communicate
Best New Anime 2021
Komi Can’t Communicate is another anime that focuses on young students, but in a much less violent way than the previous entry. There are no gangs here, just awkward and eccentric high schoolers who are going through the ups and downs of friendship in this comedic slice-of-life anime.
The story’s two leads are the ordinary and plain Hitohito Tadano, and the anxious but endearing Shouko Komi. Komi is somehow the most popular and idolized girl in school while Tadano is just the guy who sits next to her in class.
Despite her popularity, though, Komi has a ton of trouble with social interaction — so much so that she usually writes down her words on paper to communicate with others. This is a story about the pair’s unlikely meeting and Komi’s goal to make 100 friends as she slowly makes progress through her communication troubles.
Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation
Best New Anime 2021
Switching gears completely, Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation is an isekai about a 34-year-old shut-in who has had a rough life. He suffers a tragic fate when attempting a heroic deed and finds himself reincarnated in a fantasy world as Rudeus Greyrat.
Rudeus retains his memories and knowledge from his past life as he starts life all over again as a child. He quickly learns and excels in magic with the help of a mage named Roxy Migurdia, and swordsmanship with help from his father while making new connections with various other characters in this new world.
Rudeus is determined not to make the same mistakes he did in his past, but his highly questionable (and at times unacceptable) tendencies get in the way of self-progress. If you can look past these character flaws, you’ll find a world full of deep lore and unique powers.
Mushoku Tensei is often seen as the isekai that created many of the tropes that are seen in other shows in the genre these days, so it’s definitely interesting to see where they all came from.
Wonder Egg Priority
Best New Anime 2021
Wonder Egg Priority is one of the best anime in 2021, and also one of the most beautiful. It tells the story of Ai Ooto and her new outlook on life after the suicide of her best friend, Koito Nagase.
Ai breaks an egg in a mysterious world that appears out of nowhere in her sleep, and she’s then tasked with helping other people through their difficult times. Ai feels she has to do this as a way to “save” her friend Koito.
The premise sounds pretty easy to follow when reading it here, but watching it is a whole other story. There’s a lot of magic and mystery involved that serve as a way to see inside the minds of the characters, but it can feel a bit random at times, going from scene to scene. The stunning animation and fantasy elements seem to have minds of their own.
Like Horimiya, this anime was also created by CloverWorks studio, so if you’re a fan of their past works like The Promised Neverland and Bunny Girl Senpai, you should have a good idea of the quality that you’re in for here.
86
Best New Anime 2021
86 is a sci-fi military drama based on a light novel that started back in 2017. The Republic of San Magnolia and the Giadian Empire are at war, with the latter using unmanned drones known as the Legion to do battle.
San Magnolia decides to fight robots with robots, leading its citizens to believe that the war has now become one without any real casualties. This is completely false.
The citizens in the 86th sector of San Magnolia are known as the Eighty-Six, and they pilot those “unmanned” mechs in battle, often losing their lives.
Shinei Nouzen leads a squadron of these pilots into various morbid situations, while Vladilena Mirizé commands a detachment from a much safer location. 86 shows the realities of war as the two struggle in their positions through themes of violence, discrimination, and loss.
Sonny Boy
Best New Anime 2021
Sonny Boy is an anime original show that offers an odd but intriguing premise that is brought to life by the animators at Madhouse — the studio known for hits like Hunter x Hunter, Monster, Death Note, One Punch Man, and many more.
This anime focuses on 36 students who suddenly find themselves floating out in a mysterious void along with their school building. Some students gain supernatural powers and begin to splinter off as a divide begins to form between them and the students without powers.
Despite the student council’s best efforts, things begin to fall apart. What makes matters even more chaotic is that this new dimension contains set rules that need to be followed to stay alive.
This situation quickly turns into a dimension-hopping journey as the students attempt to find their way back to reality while dealing with engaging drama, mystery, and complicated relationships.
The Heike Story
Best New Anime 2021
The first thing that needs to be said about The Heike Story — or Heike Monogatari — is that it’s beautiful to look at. It uses unique visuals and animation to bring us back to a Japan of the past that was ruled by the Taira Clan, also known as the Heike.
The protagonist here is a young girl named Biwa who is able to see the future through her special eye. She’s taken in by a man named Taira no Shigemori of the Heike after the clan murders her father. And this is the tale of how she predicts the downfall of the powerful clan while watching it unfold over time.
Shigemori is desperate to save the Heike while Biwa adjusts to her new life without revealing exactly how this downfall will occur. The Heike Story is one of tragedy and new beginnings, all set in an era of hardship and impending war.
Star Wars: Visions
Best New Anime 2021
Star Wars: Visions might look like an odd choice for this list, but it’s a must-watch for both Star Wars and anime fans. It’s an anthology that contains nine separate stories/episodes, created by seven different Japanese animation studios.
None of the episodes fall inside the franchise canon, but they all showcase short stories in the Star Wars universe through unique styles of animation from Trigger, Production I.G, Science SARU, Geno Studio (Twin Engine), Kinema Citrus, Studio Colorido (Twin Engine), and Kamikaze Douga.
Star Wars: Visions is a celebration of the franchise through the lens of creative and talented directors and animators that shouldn’t be missed, even if you don’t consider yourself a Star Wars fan.
There are many, many more new anime being released in 2021. If there are any that you’ve watched or are looking forward to that haven’t been mentioned, let us know what they are in the comments below!
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